Starting in Singapore, the partnership will develop a hybrid greenhouse production and climate technology R&D facility that will be used to develop the integrated solutions suitable for large-scale production in different SE Asia countries facing similar climate conditions. The joint targets are ambitious – to set a 20% increase in energy productivity per kilo by end of 2024, and as much as 50% by the end of 2027.
Singapore’s Green Plan 2030 aims to produce 30% of its nutritional needs locally and sustainably by 2030, but the extreme and volatile climate conditions with hot weather and high outside humidity levels make it difficult to operate a profitable greenhouse. A sustainable technology framework for a profitable crop cultivation is needed to realize Singapore’s “30 by 30” vision and to reduce its dependence on food imports.
With energy being the main operational cost driver in CEA, the objective of Priva and Equilibrium is to develop a blueprint, tailor-made to the challenging SE Asia climate conditions, that simultaneously decreases energy use per kilo of crop output and increases the quality and quantity of food production. These solutions will require Priva/Equilibrium to team across multiple disciplines and technology suppliers.
Dave Chen, Chairman Equilibrium Capital:
“In the next decades, with a shrinking arable, and more inhospitable, landscapes, CEA will become the core food system infrastructure in our climate-challenged world. Energy, water, and human resource productivity solutions will be critical for CEA resilience, and the only way to develop these integrated sustainable solutions is to get started and develop the industry teaming needed to create these innovations.”
Meiny Prins, CEO Priva:
“Food security and local food production have become global topics. We are convinced that by combining domain knowledge, the use of technology and strategic cooperation with global partners it should be possible to create the right climate for large scale crop cultivation in South East Asia, supporting a sustainable greenhouse operation. This is what drives us every day.”
